Previous versions of the virtual reality headset use LCD displays, which are inherently slower than OLED. With the new OLED panels the headset provides more freedom for use of faster framerates. In particular, the Crystal Cove prototype uses the fast refresh rate to provide low persistence images to reduce motion blur.

Low persistence refers to the effect of actually showing the image for a reduced period of time, with the image going blank between frames. This tricks the eye/brain into filling in the blanks and perceiving a smoother image. It's the same principle applied to some LCD monitors that pulse the backlighting on and off to reduce the appearance of motion blur.

Joining the new screens is a boost to the tracking abilities. Crystal Cove uses a tracking camera that faces the user and a series of white dots on the Oculus Rift - just like they do for movie motion tracking - to add positional as well as motion tracking. Now when the user leans over or crouches down the Oculus will detect this and respond accordingly. Previous versions couldn't handle these types of motions, which detracted from the sense of immersion and could lead to heighten motion sickness.

The addition of these new features isn't predicted to add to the final cost of the commercial hardware, with VP of Product, Nate Mitchell, telling Polygon that "Cost has always been at the crux of the entire Oculus platform, if the hardware is not affordable, it might as well not exist. We made sure this is a low-cost solution without sacrificing any quality. This is a top-notch positional tracking system."

There is no further word on when the final Oculus Rift will arrive and exactly what its specs will be.

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18 Comments

Must say I'm pretty disappointed in this. A camera is not how I hoped they were adding positional tracking.

The oled display has me curious though. They mentioned a while ago that was the ideal type of display for them as it basically has zero latency. The problem was Samsung were the only ones making them (or making good ones?) and wasn't interested in selling them in the low quantities they needed.

So, has Samsung changed their minds or did the Oculus team find another supplier?
More importantly if it is Samsung could it be one of their higher resolution displays expected to come out this year?

As they said it's cost driven. However using white dots makes it leagues more accurate than the type of algorithms used in the kinect for example.

i'll agree with being disappointed. the biggest problem being that it wont be possible to use unless you're directly in front of the camera. meaning you need a place to mount it and you cant ever turn completely to your sides(once it cant register the dots it's useless). so no more 360 degree vision.

overall unless they go with like 5 camera(even more inconvenient) i'd prefer the original design without positional tracking over this.

TBH the camera is more for removing sensor drift, which is a big issue with accelerometers, which I've had lots of experience with in robotics. So even if the camera is only used to remove this whenever you face the camera its a great thing. Otherwise playing a game for several hours at once you'd get quite bad sensor drift, and you can only remove this via physical connections or a vision system like this.

Originally Posted by Bloody_PeteTBH the camera is more for removing sensor drift, which is a big issue with accelerometers, which I've had lots of experience with in robotics. So even if the camera is only used to remove this whenever you face the camera its a great thing. Otherwise playing a game for several hours at once you'd get quite bad sensor drift, and you can only remove this via physical connections or a vision system like this.

if they're including both and they put the beads on the head band as well then i would really love this change instead of questioning it. as long as the full 360 is still there i will praise this change to the heavens, if they removed that benefit for this change then i'd probably end up switching to the competition

(also i would hope using the cam would be an optional thing.... absolutely unnecessary if all you're doing at the time is watching a movie)

So we going to be standing up while gaming with this? i thought the oculus would be used for sitting on the couch playing games in 3D while being able to move your head slightly to look around the game world.

Dont need to be able to crouch or jump around or move my head 360 like an owl, just want to sit down and be immersed.

I got a feeling they might turn it into some gimmicky 3D/kinect mashup

Perhaps the idea is to offer options: Kinect functionality, Leap Motion functionality, eye tracking, Oculus Rift motion tracking all in one setup; choose how you want to interact with a particular game at a particular moment. It's easy to converge the technology into a webcam with some extra sensors; it cold just be built into a monitor as standard. Then all you have to worry about is the reflective dots on the headset. Add a Q-code tag to identify the device to the camera software, and the setup configures itself on the fly. Easy.

Originally Posted by definedSo we going to be standing up while gaming with this? i thought the oculus would be used for sitting on the couch playing games in 3D while being able to move your head slightly to look around the game world.

Dont need to be able to crouch or jump around or move my head 360 like an owl, just want to sit down and be immersed.

I got a feeling they might turn it into some gimmicky 3D/kinect mashup

You got a good point. I am wondering how this will be in a room with a coffee table and you jumping and crouching 'like a blind man in a torture room' I don't know about others but if this thing is over my head I can't see anything except the virtual environment. Well except for the friends in the room with you laughing their ass off and sharing 'your progress' on youtube...

Originally Posted by runadumbSo, has Samsung changed their minds or did the Oculus team find another supplier?
More importantly if it is Samsung could it be one of their higher resolution displays expected to come out this year?

Sony has OLED technology. I'm not sure if they are the supplier though.

Originally Posted by definedSo we going to be standing up while gaming with this? i thought the oculus would be used for sitting on the couch playing games in 3D while being able to move your head slightly to look around the game world.

Dont need to be able to crouch or jump around or move my head 360 like an owl, just want to sit down and be immersed.

I got a feeling they might turn it into some gimmicky 3D/kinect mashup

Even when sitting your head doesn't just stay in one place and rotate like a gimbal. If you look behind yourself then the natural thing to do is to move your shoulders which changes the position of your head. The subtle difference between how your viewpoint would actually change and the simple rotation which the Oculus currently does probably contributes to motion sickness. I bet if they could do it all with on board sensors then they would, but this solution is cheap and adds additional options for those that want it. Hopefully it will work with any webcam, otherwise I've got to clip another thing to the top of my monitor.

Originally Posted by definedSo we going to be standing up while gaming with this? i thought the oculus would be used for sitting on the couch playing games in 3D while being able to move your head slightly to look around the game world.

Dont need to be able to crouch or jump around or move my head 360 like an owl, just want to sit down and be immersed.

I got a feeling they might turn it into some gimmicky 3D/kinect mashup

standing, sitting, upside down, whatever you want. this isnt some console toy, you'll be able to use it any way you want.

Originally Posted by definedSo we going to be standing up while gaming with this? i thought the oculus would be used for sitting on the couch playing games in 3D while being able to move your head slightly to look around the game world.

Dont need to be able to crouch or jump around or move my head 360 like an owl, just want to sit down and be immersed.

I got a feeling they might turn it into some gimmicky 3D/kinect mashup

standing, sitting, upside down, whatever you want. this isnt some console toy, you'll be able to use it any way you want.

well that depends on how they make use of that camera.... which is why there are people like me who are hesitant. if it's like others say and it's just an optional feature you can turn off then whatever. but if it isnt then that means the range of ways to use it will plummet.

Originally Posted by CeiThey need to hurry up and actually release a consumer product, rather than endless prototypes and developer kits that seem to only go on the heads of journalists!

They've never given a release date so no real need to do this IMHO. This is an extremely challenging piece of hardware to get right (literally, the cutting edge of consumer products). I don't mind waiting another year (SC FTW!) for them to release the best product they can.

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